THE Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by a “Txt the editor” text message published in NT News on 17 May 2018 which read “I am not happy about the Eurovision winner and I would prefer another grand final solution”.
The text message appeared on page 11 of the newspaper, on a page titled “Your Say – The People’s Voice in the Northern Territory” with eight other texts to the editor.
The sender’s name was not included on the text message.
The Council asked the publication to comment on whether, in the context of Israel having recently won the Eurovision Song Contest and therefore having the opportunity to host the next Eurovision final, the reference to the “final solution” in the text message may be considered an offensive reference to the Holocaust and anti-Semitic.
It also asked the publication to comment on whether in publishing the text message the publication took reasonable steps to avoid causing or contributing materially to substantial offence, distress or prejudice, without sufficient justification in the public interest, in breach of General Principle 6 of the Council’s Standards of Practice.
The publication said the text message was not anti-Semitic and was not a reference to the Holocaust.
Read the article in the NT News.